Last year’s visit to Melbourne was big for DeAnne Smith, the comedian striking gold with a hilarious Gala spot. As an audience member that evening, you knew that you had witnessed something special. It was Smith in, arguably, the finest form of her stand-up career and it came as little surprise when the show-stealing bit ultimately went viral.
To make such a connection with such a vast number of people was a rewarding outcome for Smith. “For me the point is about connecting and creating conversations, but also creating space for people to be themselves,” she explains, “so they maybe go, ‘Somebody shares my perspective – it’s not just me, I’m not crazy!’ To me that’s what it’s about at the end of the day.”
Naturally, Smith is keen to make the most of her platform as a stand-up comedian and have a positive impact. Still, her occupation gives her pause for thought every now and again.
“Ever since I’ve done comedy I’ve always thought – and this could be me overthinking or having been socialised [as] a female my whole life, or whatever it is, me or society – but I’ve always thought ‘why am I on stage, why am I the only one talking?’ The whole setup of stand-up is so strange in that there’s so many people in the room and only one of us is allowed to talk and share their ideas,” laughs Smith.
“I’ve always tried to have a reason, a point for being up there and for speaking. I can’t say that I always hit the mark, but that is on my mind a lot,” she explains. “Not every comedian approaches things that way. That’s fine. Sometimes it is just about escapism and laughing and having a great time. To be satisfying, to me personally, I like there being a little extra layer there.”
As for Smith’s brand new show titled Worth It, to be performed at this year’s festival, the make-up of the segment was somewhat of a mystery – even to Smith herself – until quite recently.
“[Months before] I’m always submitting a show that doesn’t exist yet and I’m writing a hopeful, aspirational blurb of what I think I’m going to write about, “ she laughs. “The show is much less about money than the blurb would indicate and much more about larger concepts of worth and self-worth – which, as I tell you, does not sound very funny, but I am very excited about the show.”
“This sounds cheesy but I was working on a show that I wanted to create when the show that needed to be written was right in front of me. The show that I’m bringing needed me to write it now and not necessarily the one I thought I was making back in October.”
Smith is excited to return to the festival, expressing her appreciation for a city that now, more than ever, embraces her comedy. “Melbourne audiences are very comedy savvy and they’ve been seeing comedy for a long time, and they’re up for it.”
